Ukrainian President’s Office expects international tribunal for Putin to be set up this autumn
DENYS KARLOVSKYI — THURSDAY, 26 MAY 2022, 18:22
The Office of the President of Ukraine expects that an international tribunal to punish top Russian military and political leaders for war crimes, and an international arbitration court to convert the Russian Federation's frozen assets into compensation for Ukraine, will be established by the end of the summer.
Source: deputy head of the Presidential Office Andrii Smirnov for Radio Svoboda
Quote from Smirnov: "We would like to think that at the end of the summer we will sign and then quickly ratify the documents in relation to both of these institutions (the International Tribunal and the International Arbitration Court for frozen Russian Federation assets – Ukrainska Pravda).
Since this has never happened before in history, individual countries want to discuss the model first in order to have guarantees for themselves that the aggressor country will not then file claims against them with international judicial institutions. So this scepticism is now based on legal rather than political grounds."
Details: Ukrainian lawyers involved in the development of the legal basis for the establishment of a tribunal and arbitration court hope to overcome the scepticism of their international partners in the near future.
Background:
- On 25 April, the Presidential Office, together with the Ministry of Justice, issued a statement that they had developed a recovery mechanism for compensation to Ukraine from Russian funds that are frozen in overseas accounts.
- Back in April, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of a special UN international tribunal to bring to justice all those involved in war crimes against the civilian population in Ukraine.
- On 19 May, the European Parliament adopted another resolution on establishing a tribunal as soon as possible to bring to justice all Russian officials and military leaders who allowed the commission of numerous war crimes on the territory of Ukraine.
- Earlier, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss supported the idea of establishing an international tribunal to convict Russian President Vladimir Putin.